A Simple Day Off
by WolfWinks
Summary: Spencer's normal day at the park turns into something he never expected but can't bring himself to regret.


Written for Sam (HP Slash Luv) for the Gift Giving Exchange.

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The air was hot around him; a perfect summer day. Spencer wandered around the park enjoying the first decent break the team received in almost two months. The last few cases had been hard on the whole team and when Haley Hotchner was killed, it was decided that they all deserved a break.

They needed a break.

"Watch out!"

Spencer jumped back just on tome to avoid a baseball hitting his head. A child about ten years old came running after it and collected the toy.

"Apologise to the man, Andrew," a man—most likely the child's dad—called out.

The child glanced towards Spencer and then his dad. "But you threw it, not me!"

"It's okay," Spencer laughed, waving away the man's apology as he stuttered it out with a red face.

 _This is perfect_ , Spencer thought as he moved away and turned his eyes to a group of children feeding the ducks. He couldn't help but wonder if the children would be victims to the people he chased one day.

His bag slipping off his shoulder pulled him back into reality and away from his morbid thoughts. He searched for a spot in the shade to enjoy his time off and read (he'd brought four books with him so he should be able to read until at least late afternoon) but a commotion caught his attention.

A large group of boys—mostly teenagers, but there looked to be one or two younger boys as well—were huddled together pushing and shoving each other.

Spencer shifted on the spot, even taking a step forward, but he knew he wouldn't be helpful. He wanted to stop the fight and keep the peaceful atmosphere, but he knew he didn't look all that intimidating and would probably just make everything worse.

 _Still,_ he thought when the boys seemed to become more determined to hurt each other. He took another step forward when he spotted something that didn't really belong in the middle of a fight and a sheepish smile found itself on his face.

 _A football game,_ he thought, rolling his eyes at himself but feeling relief flow through him. _No wonder no one else was reacting to the 'fight'._

He started to move away when a familiar figure caught his eye and he stopped.

"Morgan?" he muttered out loud, surprised, though he wasn't sure why he was. Morgan always talked about playing football, so really it shouldn't surprise him, but it did. Maybe it was the fact that Morgan was playing in the park that Spencer regularly visited and they'd never run into each other before.

Morgan was standing on the far side of the make-shift field playing on one of the teams. There was another man not far from him—a man Spencer didn't recognise—who seemed to be playing against Morgan's team. They were playing in amongst the other boys, but the two adults seemed to be trying to keep to the sidelines and letting the boys play by themselves.

Spencer watched for a moment, laughing when Morgan gently tacked one of the boys only to be teased about being too soft. He found the tension left in his shoulders leave him as he watched and he decided to sit nearby.

Once he sat, he pulled out the first book but barely glanced at it. Instead, he watched the game, smiling whenever Morgan's team scored and the boys went wild.

His eyes focused on the other man and Spencer couldn't help but notice the man was keeping a close eye on the boys, paying particular attention to a few on the outside of the game. When Spencer noticed this he also noticed that most if not all of the boys were showing some subtle but telling signs of trauma. No one would notice unless they had the training Spencer had.

 _It must be a youth group of some sort,_ Spencer realised, smiling softly at the thought. It didn't surprise him that Morgan was volunteering at a youth centre.

As Spencer continued to watch the game, he didn't notice one of the older boys pull Morgan to the side and point Spencer out. He did notice, however, when Morgan called out his name, or a version of it at least.

"Pretty Boy!"

Spencer heard a few snickers from the teens and glared at Morgan for the very public embarrassment.

"Morgan," he said, attempting to ignore the blush he knew was spreading over his face.

Morgan collapsed on the grass next to Spencer and lay on his back. His own face was bright red as well, but not because of embarrassment like Spencer. Beads of sweat dripped off his face and his chest heaved with every breath.

"What are you doing here?" Morgan huffed.

Spencer lifted the book in his lap up and waved it as his answer. He may not have been actually reading the book but he was never going to admit that he was watching and enjoying a game of football, no matter how relaxed it was.

"Sure, then why did Michael over there catch you watching the game like some strange fan?"

The way Morgan phrased his sentence had Spencer looking at him with a small frown. "What?" It sounded like Morgan thought he was _watching_.

"Oh don't be offended, kid. I'm sure you've noticed how jumpy they are." Morgan sat up and shrugged, looking back at the kids, who were still playing. The other adult was standing off to the side now and would occasionally glance at Morgan.

"Yeah," Spencer murmured, his frown not disappearing.

"Do you want to meet them?" Morgan said after a moment of silence.

Spencer jumped, turning to look at Morgan like he was insane. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he stuttered, unable to voice why he thought that would be a _really_ bad idea.

"Come on," Morgan said, pushing himself off the ground and holding out his hand. "They'll love you."

Spencer stared at Morgan's hand for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he grabbed the hand. "Fine, but I think you're forgetting about the Reid affect."

"Please, they're not children," Morgan scoffed, pulling Spencer up but not letting go of his hand.

"Yeah, well, teenagers don't really like me either," he muttered. "They didn't even like me when I was one."

Morgan shot Spencer an amused look with a hint of anger burning underneath. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Spencer's hand once before rolling his eyes and laughing. "I promise to protect you from the scary teenagers."

They arrived at the group before Spencer was able to respond but he promised to pay Morgan back for it later.

Morgan pulled his hand away from Spencer's to whistle through his fingers and the boys all stopped with the game to stare at Morgan.

"Come over here, everyone! I want you to meet someone."

Spencer shifted on the spot as the crowd of teens shuffled closer, all of them shooting Spencer unsure and wary glances. Even the other man was shotting him concerned glances, though he was the friendliest face in the group.

"Everyone, this is Spencer Reid. We work together. In fact, I'm his senior agent." Morgan waved his hand over the group of kids and a mischievous grin spread over his face. "Spencer, this is everyone."

Some of the kids snickered at Morgan's useless introduction and Spencer spared him an exasperated look. Morgan was having too much fun with this.

"Wait," one of the oldest teens (and possibly the leader of the group) said, "did you say he worked with you? As in, like, an FBI agent?"

Spencer shifted again, already able to see where this was heading. He knew what it looked like when he was introduced as an agent.

"Yep," Morgan said. "He's been working in the FBI for almost seven years now."

A few of the teen's eyes widened almost comically.

"Seven years?" the same teen said. "No way. You can't be much older than I am," he said to Spencer, looking at him for the first time since he spoke.

"Um, I'm twenty-eight years old."

"So you started at the FBI when you were, what, twenty-one or something?"

Spencer nodded, blushing slightly. There was silence for a moment as the group digested the apparently shocking information. There was less fear in the teen's eyes now and there was even a little bit of awe in some of the younger teen's expressions.

"How old are you then, Morgan?" the first teen asked after a moment.

"What?" Morgan said, seemingly shocked that the conversation was turned on him again.

"Well, if you're his senior agent, you must be a lot more experienced than he is so you can teach him, right?"

When Morgan nodded, the teen continued. Spencer started to smile when he saw where the teen was going.

"And, I'm assuming that twenty-one isn't the normal age for an FBI agent to start, so in that case, you must have started probably around the same age that Spencer is now and then had heaps of years to gain experience so by the time Spencer joined, you would have already been really old."

Morgan's jaw was practically touching the ground as the teens started to snicker. The man tried to hide his smile behind his hand, but Spencer didn't bother to even try, opening laughing at his friend.

"I bed he's already in his thirty's," one of the younger teens said from the back.

Another snorted before Morgan could but in. "Thirty, please, he's got to be at least in his forty's."

"Wait a minute—"

"Nah, in his fifties at least. I thought I saw a grey hair earlier."

Morgan turned to Spencer almost desperately. "Come on, help me out."

All eyes turned to Spencer and waited for his response. It was almost like a test and depending on what Spencer said in this moment would decide on if he was accepted or not.

Spencer gave Morgan an evil smile. "You know, I don't think you've ever told me your age. Are you trying to hide something?"

Morgan shot him a betrayed look as the kids laughed and continued on with the teasing. With those few words, Spencer was accepted into the group and included in the fun.

The air was cooling down when the group started to disperse. The teens were saying goodbye to their friends as family members started to come and pick their children up. Some kids, like the teen from before (who Spencer later learned was Michael; the same one that pointed Spencer out) were walking home and others were going to travel back to the youth centre with Cameron (the other man who Spencer was also introduced to). Morgan was determined to walk Spencer home.

"I'm not an invalid, you know," Spencer tried again, but Morgan just rolled his eyes.

"I know, but I want to walk you home."

Spencer didn't argue after that, choosing to just nod and accept the company home. They waved goodbye to the last of the teens and Cameron before following the path through the park.

"You were really good with them," Morgan said after a while.

Spencer shrugged and didn't say anything.

"I'm serious. Michael asked if you were going to join us again."

"Really?" Spencer asked, surprised that the unofficial leader of the group wanted to see him again, especially after being nervous about him at the beginning of the day.

"Yeah. He said, and I'm quoting here, it's nice to have a smart adult to talk to." Morgan pouted at his words and Spencer couldn't hold back the laugh that bubbled up his throat.

"Oh shut up," Morgan said without malice.

Spencer continued to grin but he stopped laughing and the pair continued to walk in silence for a bit. Spencer didn't continue the conversation until they were reaching the park gates.

"How did you get into the youth group? I know you weren't doing it when I first started at the bureau." Spencer wasn't anywhere near surprised that Morgan was a part of a youth group, but he couldn't help but wonder what encouraged him to join in the first place.

"After the case with Carl, I was a little bit of a mess." Morgan's head was lowered to the ground and faced away from Spencer. "I was sickened and ashamed and embarrassed that everyone I worked with knew my darkest secret but there was something else there that I didn't notice until about a week later. Relief."

Morgan paused to clear his throat and Spencer took the chance to direct them to a nearby park bench and sit down. This wasn't a conversation they should have standing at the park entrance.

"A weight had been lifted and I felt better than ever before. After that, I wanted to be able to help other kids feel the relief that I felt, even if I can only help a little bit."

They fell into silence and Spencer moved his hand to rest against Morgan's which was flat against the park bench. He didn't grab Morgan's and or force any unwanted contact, but he was letting Morgan know he was there.

"Isn't it hard?" Spencer couldn't help but ask.

"It's no harder than work, Pretty Boy."

The silence filled the space again until it was broken rather abruptly by yelling from some children. Two larger boys about twelve years old were chasing a kid that Spencer recognised. Just as Spencer was about to call out to the kid, one of the older ones shoved him, making him skid over the grass. The ten-year-old eye's watered and the older boys started to laugh.

"Hey!" Morgan called out, barely a second before Spencer was up and moving towards Andrew.

The twelve-year-olds spotted the two adults scowling at them and took off in the opposite direction. Spencer ignored them and knelt next to the boy who was rubbing his eyes with a dirtied hand.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Andrew looked up at Spencer and shrugged. "It's fine, I'm use to it," he said but then his eyes furrowed. "Didn't I see you earlier?" he asked before ducking his head shyly. "Sorry, that was rude. Dad's always telling me I need to think before I say something."

Spencer chuckled, forgetting about Morgan for a moment, and nodded his head. "That's alright. We met earlier when you're dad almost hit me with a baseball."

"Oh yeah," Andrew said with a smile.

"Andrew!" the boy called, running over to them. "What happened, kiddo?"

"Conner and Steve pushed me." Andrew lowered his eyes to the ground and shrugged but it was obvious the dad was not impressed.

"I'm going to have to talk to those kid's parents again," the man said with controlled frustration.

"This happens often, then?" Morgan asked Andrew.

Spencer jumped when he spoke, having forgotten about Morgan. He wondered what Morgan was thinking about because his voice held a hint of something Spencer didn't recognise.

"Yeah, but it's no big deal." Andrew shrugged again but he was obviously bothered by the incident.

"You know," Morgan started, kneeling down next to Spencer and looking at Andrew with his smile reserved for children. "I work at a youth centre and we work with a lot of kids in a similar situation to you."

Spencer's head snapped up and stared at Morgan in shock.

"Really?" Andrew asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Kids are bullied everywhere but they often feel alone, right, Spencer?"

Spencer jumped again and he felt his face pale slightly. He may be an adult now but he really didn't like talking about his childhood. Still, how could he ignore Andrew when he was looking so desperately at him?

"Definitely. Kids are bullied all around the world but because of how bullying works, the victim often feels alone and isolated. It's actually—" Spencer cut off when Morgan cleared his throat and he realised that Andrew probably didn't need a lecture. "Anyway, it often helps to realise that you're not completely alone and that there are other people that have similar experiences."

"Can I go, dad?"

Andrew's dad looked down at his son and his eyes softened. "Of course you can. When are you open?" he asked Spencer.

"Um, I don't, I mean—"

"There is always someone around, even through the night, but there is a regular activity session starting at four every school day afternoon and a big group day every third Saturday," Morgan said, saving Spencer from any more embarrassment.

"Do you work there?" Andrew asked Spencer.

Spencer hesitated, but he knew what he wanted to say and he couldn't believe how easily he'd been manipulated into joining like Morgan wanted. "Not yet, but I will be soon."

Andrew smiled before hugging Spencer around the legs and running ahead of his dad.

"Thank you," his dad said.

Morgan and Spencer smiled at the man but before they could say anything Andrew was calling for his dad and they were both leaving the park.

"So," Morgan said once they were out of sight, "you'll be joining soon?"

Spencer scowled. "Shut up, you knew I couldn't resist after all that."

Morgan smiled and threw his arm around Spencer's shoulders. "I know. Man, I couldn't have planned it better if I tried."

Spencer scowled again but he didn't throw Morgan's arm off his shoulders. It was a comforting weight.

"What have you got me into," Spencer moaned as they walked through the park gates.

Morgan laughed and glanced at Spencer. "Wait until I tell you about the disco nights."

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WolfWinks –xx-

(w.c 2,944)


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